Dark and Light
by amberfly
Summary: Spoilers for Demons. Jack ponders a misson that had started badly but ended with hope.


Author: Amberfly  
Title: Dark and Light.  
Spoilers: Demons. (SG-1)  
Category: General;  
Warnings: None.  
Feedback: Yes, please.

For the Sunday missing scene challenge.

Daniel doesn't say it, but I know he thinks I'm being a cynical  
bastard, but I've had plenty of practice. Sitting in the infirmary  
listening him prattle on about early Christianity, I wonder how he  
can be so damn enthusiastic about something I never want to think  
about again. But, as I'm not really a cynic, I keep my mouth shut.  
Course, that doesn't stop me from thinking it as I raise my hand and  
try to batter Doc's penlight from permanently blinding my right  
eyeball.

SG-1 is collectively beat and exhausted. This mission took a lot  
from us, both mentally and physically, and we all thought we'd lost  
Teal'c. I still have to wonder how he actually survived; Carter will  
explain it to me later, how a Jaffa can drown but not actually die.  
That man has more lives than a cat. Anyway, those fanatics on planet  
medieval decided he was a demon, beat the crap outta him, and threw  
in him a river after chaining a rock to his leg. A real fair fight.  
Daniel informed us this had been common practice in the Middle Ages,  
weigh a person down and then throw them in the water. If he sinks,  
he's innocent, if he doesn't, he's guilty. Like Danny said earlier,  
they didn't call them the dark ages because it was dark. Got that  
right.

Walking into the village square and seeing a young girl chained was  
the first hint that it was going to be a tough day. When Danny  
translated the writing on that stone pedestal, I knew we'd walked  
into another damn nightmare. What was that again? The Suffering of  
Souls? That ice in my stomach kept on churning, and I figured that  
poor kid covered in chicken pox probably knew all about suffering.  
Yep, suffering was on the menu here morning, noon and night.

Mary and her people lived in fear all their lives; I could see it in  
their eyes when they looked at us that it was all the poor bastards  
had ever known. Wonderful, green universe? R-rright. Any universe  
that has a Goa'uld infested unas pretending to be a demon in it has  
to be peachy. A Goa'uld called Sokar or Satan as he liked to be  
called had been terrorizing these people for hundreds of years, and  
I figured enough was enough. Brave words, and by the time I was done  
I'd learned a few more. Trepanning was a real treat.

Daniel hit the nail on the head when he said this particular snake  
wasn't playing god, he was playing the devil, and I just knew we  
were in trouble. The spiritual leader enigmatically called himself  
the Canon, and the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew his type. A  
mean sonuvabitch, not fit to lead roaches, he used a Goa'uld ring  
device to play God right along with Sokar. This *leader* of men, and  
I use the word leader loosely, picked who lived and who… did not.  
How is it that these slimy, self serving bastards always manage to  
rise to the top? That's right; it's a wonderful green universe.

Well, the good Canon took a demonesque dislike to Teal'c, and  
throwing him into the lake, magnanimously decided to let the rest of  
us go, providing we didn't return. Self serving slimy bastard, he  
knew if I did come back I'd break his damn neck. But while he wore  
that Goa'uld ring to stun us, we had no choice, and the day just  
continued to get worse and worse. Daniel had philosophical issues  
with drilling holes in a young girl's heads, and he persuaded me to  
stay. Yep, Daniel can be very persuasive when he wants to be, and he  
and I are due another long talk about following orders.

Life has a way of throwing a curve ball though; and Teal'c didn't  
drown in that lake after all, Junior had kept him alive. Way to go,  
Junior! Teal'c woke up while being prepared for burial and you could  
say the good villagers were less than impressed. You'd think they'd  
never seen a man rise from the dead before. So, any way, they  
screamed, feelings were hurt, and it was back to square one for us,  
chained to a post ready to be taken by Sokar's pet lizard.

It would be fair to say things weren't going according to plan, but  
after a bit of persuasion, Simon grew a spine and came through. Kid  
finally did the right thing. It took a lot of guts; he'd been  
terrorized by a creature he thought was a demon all his life, but  
the good in him won out. He couldn't let Mary have a hole drilled in  
her skull and he couldn't let her be taken by the unas.

Simon was actually a lot tougher than he looked, and by taking our  
weapons from the Canon's goons, the kid gave us a fighting chance.  
That's all SG-1 ever need, a fighting chance. If Simon hadn't fought  
and killed the unas, we'd all be guests of Sokar, conveniently  
handed over by the Canon without remorse. That sanctimonious prick  
isn't going to be an issue anymore, let's just say he won't be  
around to sacrifice anymore of his flock to an alien lunatic. The  
late Canon's days of tyranny are over, and freedom for Simon and his  
people is a real possibility now. His people need to bury the  
Stargate and their old beliefs with it, and I truly hope they do.  
They are going to be okay I think; we gave them an even chance and  
it's up to them what they do with it.

If I wasn't such a cynical bastard I'd say the universe isn't such a  
bad place after all.

~Fini~


End file.
